WASHINGTON—As the Trump Administration moves full-steam ahead to dismantle the health care law that provides coverage for millions of Americans, U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and 44 democratic senators joined legislation led by U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) putting in the official Senate record their condemnation of that “reckless” effort and demanding the Department of Justice (DOJ) defend existing law in court and halt its efforts to repeal the health care protections for millions – including 133 million Americans with pre-existing conditions— in the middle of a public health emergency.

Last month, the DOJ and a group of Republican Attorneys General submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court urging it to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) and pull the rug out from underneath the millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions who depend on the law for health care coverage. If the Supreme Court agrees and overturns the ACA, 223,000 Connecticut residents could lose coverage, including a large portion of the 231,200 people enrolled through Medicaid expansion and 25,000 people under the of age 26 who have stayed on their parents’ health insurance.

Additionally more than 135 million people nationwide, including 522,000 residents in Connecticut, who have a pre-existing conditions could once again face annual or lifetime caps, medical underwriting for their insurance coverage, or denials for the care they need. Across the board, the state would lose billions of dollars in federal funds, causing significant job losses and jeopardizing health coverage for vulnerable communities. All of this would happen in the midst of a global health crisis that has already strapped providers across Connecticut and caused nearly 27 million people across the U.S. to lose employer-sponsored coverage.

The Democratic resolution urges DOJ to reverse its position and instead protect the millions of people who rely on the ACA for health care coverage amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has infected more than 2.9 million Americans and killed more than 130,000. 

The resolution is also backed by Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Mark Warner of Virginia, Doug Jones of Alabama, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Tom Carper of Delaware, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Richard Durbin of Illinois, Kamala Harris of California, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Patty Murray of Washington, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Gary Peters of Michigan, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Angus King of Maine, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Dianne Feinstein of California, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Chris Coons of Delaware, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Chuck Schumer of New York.

A staunch advocate for expanding access to quality affordable care, Tester has railed against the Administration’s attempts to gut America’s health care system and worked tirelessly to improve it. Last year, the Trump Administration went against Congressional intent by issuing a statement endorsing a judge’s ruling in the Texas v. U.S. lawsuit—a move that Tester strongly opposed. The decision deemed the individual mandate provision of the ACA unconstitutional thus striking down the health care law entirely.

Tester also pushed DOJ to halt its efforts to undermine the nation’s health care system, and called on  Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to conduct a comprehensive review on the consequences of dismantling the ACA and assess the impacts of overturning the law on the federal, state, and local levels. 

Full text of resolution is available HERE.

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